In Memoriam: Art Grant, who kept Memorial Day sacred

Greater Morristown’s Memorial Day observances are missing a steadfast friend this year.

Art Grant, an Army veteran of the Vietnam War, passed away in February 2017, after a brief illness. He was 74.

Over the years, Grant spoke eloquently at Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies in his hometown, Morris Plains, and in Morristown.

Video: Art Grant speaks at 2010 Memorial Parade in Morris Plains

He served as a post commander and chaplain for the Watnong VFW Post in Morris Plains, and was active in the Morristown/Morris Township Memorial and Veterans Day Association.

As a member of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, Grant and his wife Carol hosted college students from Northern Ireland for a program called Project Children. Grant also was a Past Grand Knight of the Morris Plains Knights of Columbus.

Morris Plains residents Art and Carol Grant, standing, hosted for Northern Irish visitors Sarah Grant, left, and Catrina Hollran in 2010. The college students were part of a program called Project Children, which aims to promote harmony between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland via summer vacations in the U.S. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

Born in the Bronx, NY, Grant grew up in White Plains, NY, and moved to Morristown with his parents in the late 1950s. He graduated from Seton Hall Prep, Villanova University and the University of Delaware’s Stonier School of Banking. A bank auditor and certified public accountant, Grant chaired a school board committee that reviewed facilities and expenditures in Morris Plains schools.

During the Vietnam War, he served in the intelligence field in the far eastern theater, according to his obituary.

Drawing on lessons he gleaned from that turbulent period in our nation’s history, Grant attempted to put last year’s divisive presidential campaign into perspective, just days after the election during a 2016 Veterans Day ceremony on the Morristown Green.

“When we are so divided and so misunderstood, and have such a dichotomy of views, this system can grind to a halt,” Grant told the sparsely attended gathering on a crisp November morning.

Sherman Allen, left, is honored as 2013 Veteran of the Year, as Art Grant looks on. Photo by Bill Lescohier

Yet the Founding Fathers devised a series of checks and balances, he said, “so the system can repair itself and continue to function…They set that up.

“Veterans have defended it, and made it what it is today, may God love and bless every one of them.”

Arthur Grant is survived by his wife of 47 years, Carol; and their children, Jennifer and Frank Dorcley and Kevin, Patrick and Sharon Grant; and grandsons Brandon, Josh, Patrick and Conor.

Morristown and Morris Township will celebrate Memorial Day today, May 29, 2017, with a 10:30 am parade from the Township municipal building to the Morristown Green. In case of rain, the ceremony will move inside the Township municipal building on Woodland Avenue. The keynote speaker is James C. Hill, who received two Purple Hearts as a Marine in Vietnam.